St. Louis snapped a three-game skid and moved within seven of NL
Central-leading Cincinnati, which lost 3-1 to Arizona. The
Cardinals have 17 games left on their schedule.

San Diego lost its second consecutive game and dropped into a
tie for the NL West lead, pending San Francisco's late game
against the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Westbrook (2-3) gave up six hits and walked three in his longest
outing since he was acquired from Cleveland in a three-team deal
July 31. The right-hander is 2-3 with a 3.26 ERA in nine starts
with St. Louis.

"When I get ground balls, I feel like I'm doing my job," said
Westbrook, who has eight quality starts with the Cardinals.
"This was the first zero I put up in a long time. It feels
good."

It was Westbrook's longest scoreless outing since he threw eight
shutout innings on August 23, 2007, for Cleveland against
Detroit.

"Eight hard-earned innings," St. Louis manager Tony La Russa
said. "They're on fire over there and they're working every
at-bat. It was quite a piece of work."

Westbrook recorded 16 ground-ball outs.

San Diego stranded seven runners over the first four innings and
left nine on for the game. Westbrook was able to work out of
jams in four of the first five innings, thanks to his sinker and
some solid defense behind him.

"Obviously, he was working down in the zone," said San Diego
catcher Yorvit Torrealba, who went 0 for 4. "We hit some balls
hard, that's all you can do."

Westbrook struck out pitcher Tim Stauffer with the bases loaded
to end the second, then struck him out again with two on in the
fourth for the second out. Aaron Cunningham then hit a grounder
back to the mound to end the inning.

"We had some chances but we just couldn't get to him," San Diego
manager Bud Black said. "We couldn't get the hit when we needed
it."

Ryan Ludwick, who was traded from the Cardinals to San Diego in
the same deal that involved Westbrook, went 1 for 4 in his first
game back in St. Louis.

Ludwick received a 35-second standing ovation during his first
trip to the plate, and the Cardinals in the dugout also stood in
appreciation of his three-plus years in St. Louis. He tipped his
hat to the fans and also in the direction of the home bench.

The Padres have lost 10 consecutive games in St. Louis. Their
last road win against the Cardinals came on August 7, 2007.

Matt Holliday hit a two-out RBI single off Stauffer (4-4) in the
first, and the Cardinals added three more in the sixth. Pujols'
hit glanced off the glove of Ludwick in right and rolled into
center, scoring Skip Schumaker and giving him 105 RBIs on the
season.

"I feel like I executed the pitches," Stauffer said. "It just
wasn't in the cards today."

Molina capped the scoring with a bases-loaded bloop single down
the right-field line.

Kyle McClelland worked the ninth for the Cardinals, completing
the seven-hitter.

NOTES: The Padres have been shut out nine times this season. ...
San Diego pitcher Chris Young will make his first start Saturday
since the opening week of the season. Young was placed on the
disabled list April 7 with a strained right shoulder. He made
three rehab appearances. ... La Russa said dehydration caused
the right hamstring cramp that forced pitcher Chris Carpenter
out of Wednesday's game. La Russa said Carpenter is fine and
will not miss any time. ... Tyler Greene started at third and
hit ninth. La Russa said he was playing him to give the team a
spark and give Felipe Lopez some rest.